Gentry gets call from Rangers

BY ANDRES FOCIL

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Former Razorback outfielder Craig Gentry became the second Razorback baseball player to get his name called to the manager’s office this season as he was promoted to the Texas Rangers late Monday.

Gentry, a Razorback during the 2005-06 seasons, was a force for the Rangers’ double-A affiliate Frisco RoughRiders this season, earning several accolades from the team and league. In 127 games this season for the Roghriders, Gentry was batting .303, ninth in the Texas League, with 155 hits, 21 doubles, seven triples and eight home runs with 53 RBI and 100 runs scored. The swift-footed centerfielder also stole 49 bases this year, tops in the league, while getting caught just six times for an 89-percent success rate. Gentry was an All-Star in the Texas League this season and in July was named the Rangers’ minor league defender of the month after committing just two errors in 22 games. At the time he had also been credited with five outfield assists.

A 10th-round selection of the Texas Rangers in the 2006 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Gentry batted .318 in 97 games as a Razorback, scoring 73 runs and driving in 41 more. He was 34-42 in stolen base attempts and boasted a .402 on-base percentage.

Gentry’s promotion to the Rangers makes him the fourth former Razorback to be currently playing in Major League Baseball. Gentry joins right-handed pitcher Jess Todd (Cleveland Indians) who was promoted earlier this year, Cliff Lee (Philadelphia Phillies) and Eric Hinske (New York Yankees).

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